


On the Road with the Chocobros

by dreadqueenpersephone



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M, I have no shame, Probably Garbage, eventual noct/prompto, gladio is the ultimate wingman, i think, just some self-indulgent fic, slowish burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-07-29 21:30:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16272719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreadqueenpersephone/pseuds/dreadqueenpersephone
Summary: Leona Bellua, tinkerer extraordinaire, sets out with the party we know and love. These are just some snippets focused on her life and adventures on the road with the boys. OC centric, so be warned.





	1. Spitfire

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyo! I figured since I had 15k words of this self-indulgent fic typed out, I'd post it somewhere. I'm aware that OC inserts are self indulgent by their very nature, but I had fun with this, and I hope you will as well. I don't think I'm the worst writer and Leo is a very fun character for me to write as I freak out over writing my thesis. I still haven't beaten the game yet, and have avoided most spoilers so this is coming pretty organically. 
> 
> So, this first chapter doesn't really have much going for it. It was kind of just a way for me to get an initial sense of Leo's character and how she fits in the group. I initially considered doing x reader fic, but this is way more in my comfort zone. I have the first 10ish chapters written, and I'll release them maybe like once a week. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Leona threw herself into every battle. With a boost from Gladio’s greatsword, she launched herself into the enemy lines with a yell. The first time she suggested it on a hunt, Gladio couldn’t stop laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation, but swung her forward anyway, watching with muted surprise as it actually worked, and she delivered a fatal punch to the beast. Since then, it became a regular tactic, much to the horror of Ignis’s careful planning. After a while, even he stopped scolding them for the unorthodox tactic, as he was forced to admit, that yes, it delivered quite a punch. 

She chose to fight with brass knuckles she fashioned herself, enchanted to deliver an elemental punch. As such, whatever they were fighting had a face full of her before being at the receiving end of a fiery punch. Being so close-ranged had its risks, but Leo acted first, and thought later. Besides, someone needed to be more reckless than the prince.

If the tide of battle seemed to be turning, Leo had many tricks up her sleeve. If anyone else seemed in dire straits, she was proficient at drawing attention to herself, impressive considering her tiny form. But fire had the power of drawing any eye. Though she didn’t seem like it, Leo was especially vigilant when others were in danger, especially Prompto, who was a killer at range, but significantly weakened if forced to fight up close. Of course they were all there to formally protect Noct, but Prompto needed someone to watch his back too. 

And if she herself was cornered, she was ready with the many explosives he carried on her person. As reckless as she was, Leo was a master of her bombs. They never went off without her direct plan as to where they’d fall, unlike Noct’s shoddy control of his magic’s range. Well, usually. There was an occasional misfire when she tinkered with new things. She saved her explosives as a last resort as they cost gil to craft, and they had too many battles and not enough income. Besides, she’d rather use that gil to sleep in a comfy bed once in a while. 

Together, her and Noct came up with the worst ideas, that seemed brilliant at first, but usually failed spectacularly. “Ay, Noct! Why don’t we set the field on fire and flush this bitch out?!” 

“Wait, that’s a terrible—”

“That’s a great idea!” 

And they executed it without listening to Ignis’s yells behind them. Suffice to say, it was best to leave the planning to Ignis as the fire caught on their clothes and the targets fled in the other direction. That one cost them a long lecture for the rest of the car ride back. 

Leo was a bit of a wild card to factor into Ignis’s plans. But to her credit, she listened to his instructions when things got even a little bit sticky. Leo didn’t mind Ignis’s plans, as they were usually effective and allowed the team to synergise in interesting ways that she could have never thought of. 

At camp, whenever she had a spare moment after trying to help Ignis or Gladio with their setups, Leo was tinkering. Working on the weapons of the boys or trying to devise new explosions. After one mishap at the camp, she decided to go off to a nearby area to work on those from then on. After the first few times, no one commented on it if she came back covered in black power. 

As a unit, they all functioned well at the end of the day, despite some bumps, covering for each others’ weaknesses and elevating their strengths. And though she’d punch anyone that suggested it, Leo really did love her boys.


	2. Stubbornness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mishap in battle leads to heated argument and the silent treatment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

“Gladio, flank it’s right side. Leo, draw its attention up front.”

“Got it!”

Leo did as Ignis said, but the combined assault didn’t seem to weaken the gargantuan Arbas. Noct and Prompto were occupied by smaller monsters to the side. Suddenly a brilliant flash of inspiration hit her. “I got this!” she announced to Ignis and Gladio before vaulting a few feet away. “Hey jackass! Over here!”

The beast was intelligent enough to take her bait, and she grinned fiendishly. She pulled out her latest prototype and kissed it for luck. She threw it down just as it charged her and was pushed back by the force of the blast, landing on her butt with a groan. When the dust cleared, she whooped to see the beast dead on the ground, full of shards of metal. “Nice!” Gladio said, offering her an arm to pull her up.

Even Ignis accepted her fist bump. “Quite an unusual concoction.” He noted.

“I call it ‘Fiery Explosion of Spiky Death’.” Ignis winced and Gladio snickered. “Working title then.” She was too excited to sulk at their response to her brilliant name. She pulled out her ratty, overfilled notebook and marked down that prototype as a success as well as the radius of the blast. This particular bomb would be easy enough to replicate since it was mostly made of scrap metal.

Noct and Prompto had finished their prey off by that time and came over to see Leo practically bouncing with excitement. She pointed to the dead creature and was about to explain her Fiery Explosion of Spiky Death, when she felt her head hit the ground.

“Aw, you tripped again, Leo?” She faintly heard Prompto’s voice. Her own voice was caught in her throat as her effort went into righting herself up, only to plop down again. “Leo?!” this time, Prompto’s voice was more urgent.

“Give her here!” a deeper voice ordered. She felt herself being lifted up and supported by someone’s arms. She opened her eyes, and everything swam in front of her vision in a blur. All she could make out were various heads of hair, fair and dark. “Noct, bring me the remains of the bomb!”

The bomb? Oh, shit. The perimeter the shrapnel flew at must have been greater than she planned. She touched her stomach and felt stickiness that didn’t show in the black of her crownsguard uniform. The last thing she saw before blacking out again were gloved hands beginning to expertly pull out the shards of metal sticking out of her. There was something else. She tried to speak, but it was then she passed out.

Ignis was in full medic mode by then. “Put pressure on the wounds.” He ordered Gladiolus once he had carefully removed the tiny bits of shrapnel. He pulled out a potion and released its magical energy. By the time Noctis had hurried back with the charred remains of whatever she’d used, Leona lost consciousness.

“Why didn’t the potion work?”

Since Prompto was fully panicking, Ignis couldn’t resort to the same. “I don’t know.” He snapped. “What was in that bloody thing, Leona?” She didn’t stir at his question.

“We have to get her to an outpost.” Gladiolus said calmly.

“Yeah, I second that.” Noct agreed, his wide eyes the only indication of worry on his stoic face.

With that agreement, they were on their way to the Regalia, Leo on Gladio’s back. Ignis couldn’t think straight the entire time, mulling over what had happened to have such a devastating effect that a potion couldn’t solve.

When they neared the car, a groan came from Gladio’s back. “Leo!” Prompto exclaimed, stopping Gladio to touch her shoulder. “You feeling alright?”

“Ugh, ’m feel like shit.”

Ignis drew close to her. “Leona, what did you put in that blasted bomb to have such an effect?”

Leo squinted at him. “Ya look funny, Iggy.”

“Answer the question.”

She was silent for a moment before she let out a weak giggle. “Oops. Shoulda named it Fiery Explosion of Poisonous Spikes.”

They all groaned at that while Ignis twitched in anger. Poison? Of course she decided to add poison to her monstrous creation. Noct groaned again, seeming to agree. “Really dude? That’s just overkill.”

“Shaddup.” She snapped, futilely attempting to reach over and flick Noct. “You don’t understand my genius.” With those words out, her eyes closed again as she collapsed against Gladio.

“Do we have any antidotes?” Ignis asked. Everyone shook their heads, and he felt an incoming migraine. “Why don’t we have any?!”

“To be fair, we didn’t think we’d need them for this hunt.” Noct snapped back. Arbas aren’t exactly known for their poison.”

“C’mon Iggy, let’s just get back to the car.” Gladio interjected before Ignis could yell again. He pushed his glasses up and nodded, vowing to give Leona a mouthful when she woke up again.

No one was going to die under his watch.

Leo woke up in a comfy haze. The first thing she noticed was that she was in a bed. It was a pleasant surprise, one that she wasn’t going to question as she nuzzled into her pillow. The next time she regained consciousness a few hours later, she felt the sharp pain in her abdomen. “Ugh!” she looked down and pulled up her hoodie to see bandages.

“Hey, you’re up!” Prompto was by her side in an instant, sunny smile on his face.

“What happened?”

“You bombed yourself, dumbass.” Noct piped in, barely looking up from his phone.

Wow. Her collapse came back to her and she groaned at the failure of her creation. “No one else got hurt, right?” At Prompto’s nod, she relaxed. “Well, I’ll make sure to workshop that one.” She joked. At least by his casual attitude meant that it wasn’t serious. And yet, the bandages seemed to suggest otherwise. “How long have I been out? And where are Gladio and Ignis? Oh, and where are we, even? Also—”

“Slow down, dude!”

Prompto and Noct (when he could be bothered) answered her several questions. They were at the nearest gas station they could get to. She’d been out for nearly an entire day. Ignis had patched her up well enough, and once he had access to the antidotes in the car, there had been nothing to worry about. The two oldest members of the group had gone out for supplies and were bound to be back soon.

They were well into a game of cards when Gladio walked through the door with a grocery bag over his shoulder. “You’re alive!”

She gave him finger guns at that and waved at Ignis as he entered behind him. “Thanks for patching me up, Ignis.”

“You are welcome.” The grin fell off of Leo’s face as she saw Ignis’s unchanged, careful expression. She watched him busy himself at the counter with the stuff they’d just bought, noting how stiff his movements were.

Whatever, maybe he was just in a bad mood or something. She let herself ignore his strange behavior as they resumed their game, with Gladio commenting and peeking at everyone’s cards. When Noct was near throwing a hissy fit because of Prompto’s winning streak, Ignis presented them with dinner.

The cards were tossed aside. Leo was starving. She tore off a bit of the steak and shoved it into her mouth without looking at it. When she tasted what the meat was resting on, she resisted the urge to spit it out. Spinach. He’d rested the meat on spinach of all things. She narrowed her eyes at Ignis, who looked innocent enough. But when he caught her gaze, he lifted a brow. “Is there a problem with the meal?”

Oh, it was definitely on purpose. “Delicious.” She lied.

“Good.” He smirked. Leo swore revenge as she forced herself to finish the meal. She didn’t know what he was playing at, but she didn’t complain once. He clearly didn’t forget that she hated spinach, so what did she do to piss him off? The others didn’t seem to notice the silent battle being waged as they ate and watched T.V, so there’d be no point in calling him out.

They went on like this the next day, when they set out for a campsite near their next target. The car ride itself was quiet, where they occupied themselves with their own devices. It was only when they were setting up camp, and Ignis continued to respond to her questions with mere syllables was when Leo had enough. “All right, what’s your problem?”

He had the nerve to look like he didn’t know what she was talking about. “I beg your pardon?”

“You’ve been pissy with me ever since the last hunt.” she huffed, cheeks reddening with anger.

“That isn’t…” he seemed to reconsider what he was going to say and pushed his glasses up. “You never think about the effects of your actions, do you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

His eyes flashed, and Leo realised this was him being angry. Ignis was angry. She’d seen him frustrated and in lecturer-mode, but she’d never seen him full on angry. “You threw yourself into battle and ended up causing yourself harm for no reason. It was a foolish move that nearly resulted in your death.”

It had been that bad? Still, he had no right to talk to her like she was five. “It was a failed trial.” She snapped. “You want me to apologize for being human?”

“There is being human, and then there’s adding poison to an untested bomb. What if it had struck all of us?”

Screw him. The poison was a good idea! “I have never hit someone else with my bombs. I’m always too far away for that. You know what?! If it was that inconvenient to patch me up, you shouldn’t have bothered!”

With that she stormed off from the camp with her bag of tools and the engine blade she took from a bewildered Noct’s hands. She felt her face get somehow redder as she realised the others had witnessed their argument, so she quickened her pace as she left camp. They carried on with their spat for the next few days, Ignis through curtness, and Leo through the silent treatment. She had taken off her own bandages, despite Prompto’s suggestion that she should let Ignis look at her wounds. So he could hold something else over her? As if!

Eventually, Gladio seemed to have enough of it, and pulled Leo by the scruff of her hoodie to where Ignis was cooking in camp. “Lemme go, you oaf!”

“Okay.” Gladio dropped her, and Ignis turned from his stove to look at the pair curiously. “You two need to work out whatever’s you’re fighting about. It’s getting annoying.” With that said, he moved to sit in one of the camp chairs where Noct and Prompto were trying really hard to look as if they weren’t watching raptly.

Oh, she’d show him annoying! She moved to flee, but Gladio crossed his arms and gave her a reproachful look from where he sat. If she bolted, he’d chase her down, wouldn’t he? Besides, she wouldn’t give Ignis the satisfaction of thinking that she was scared of him. So, Leo resorted to glaring at his back while he cooked. Did he even notice that she was there? She didn’t want to give in first, no matter what, her pride too important, and her mind too quick to anger. When Ignis looked over at her, he caught her off guard. “You can at least make yourself useful.” He motioned to the chopping board.

Fine, that she could do. She moved beside him and began cutting the carrots and turnips for whatever stew he was making. She had to admit that it smelled amazing. She got angrier at the thought of his cooking, remembering the spinach from the day before, taking that anger out with her knife. She thought she was making quick work of the vegetables when Ignis sighed and took the knife from her. “You’re supposed to chop them, not saw through them.”

“What does it matter as long as they end up cut?”

“Well, for one, you’ll lose a finger if you carry on like that.”

Leo huffed. “And why would you care? You think I’m a liability anyway!”

Ignis stiffened and she regretted her cold words immediately. “I do not think of you as a liability, Leo. Forgive me, but I had assumed we were friends.”

Somehow, the anger in her cooled. “That’s what I thought too. Imagine my surprise when you freaked out on me.” When he didn’t respond, she continued, feeling the need to justify herself. “I would never hurt any of you with my bombs. I know I don’t act like it, but I am very careful. I always have a good measure of distance, I swear—”

He stopped her jumble of words with a hand. “I only wish you would extend that caution to yourself. The fact that you see yourself as expendable in battle worries me.”

They were both quiet after that admission, and Leona saw that she had been reading the situation entirely wrong. Oh. She flushed in embarrassment, her dark cheeks darkening further. She hadn’t even considered that that was what he was upset about. “I-uh, I’m sorry for worrying you, then.” And thanks for caring.  
He nodded and pushed up his glasses the closest she could imagine him to be bashful. “And I apologize for not being upfront about my concerns. I shouldn’t have been so… passive-aggressive.”

“Don’t forget about the spinach.” She added.

“What about the spinach? It is packed with essential vitamins and nutrients that can only benefit you in your recovery.”

She snorted. What bullshit. But whatever, it wouldn’t do to fight now that they’d just made up. Leo continued to help Ignis with what he was cooking, relieved to see that the atmosphere between them had lost the tension it had gained in the past few days. By the time they had served the stew to the others, it was as if the spat had never happened. Leo stuck her tongue out at a smug Gladio, who looked entirely too pleased that he had been right.

Even though Ignis was a totally different person than her, Leo respected him and cherished his friendship. There was no way she wouldn’t continue experimenting and being reckless in battle, but she could try to tone it down just a little, right?

Well, she would try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, auto-correct had a field day with this chapter. Also, Leo is a dumbass and I love her.


	3. Slumber Party!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo is roped into a sleepover with Iris.

It was a relief that Iris was okay. Gladio certainly seemed less tense now that he’d seen his little sister safe and sound. That night, when they stayed at Lestallum for the first time, Iris pulled Leo aside. “Hey. I’ve got an extra bed in my room. You want to stay? It’ll be like a slumber party!”

“Go for it.” Gladio encouraged. “Just don’t have too many pillow fights.”

Iris pouted at him. “We’re not 12, Gladdy. C’mon Leo. They’re not invited.”

Leo waved at them and followed after Iris with her bag slung over her shoulder. She didn’t want to offend the younger girl. It was just a different place to sleep. That was Leo thought, Iris had different plans.

The room had two twin beds next to each other. Iris plopped down on her stomach and clutched a pillow to her chest. “Sooo, how are you?”

“Um, good. It’s nice to be in a city for a change.”

They talked a bit about Lestallum, where Iris described her experiences. Leo refrained from asking about her escape from Crown City, not wanting to push at a sore spot. After the pleasantries, Iris got to what she really wanted to talk about. “Is Noctis doing okay?”

Leo sighed. “He seems to be managing pretty well, all things considered. Won’t talk about it though, so the rest of us leave it alone.” Leo didn’t want to talk too much about Noct without his knowledge. It felt wrong to talk about it behind his back, even if it was with Iris.

“I see.” Iris looked sad at that. “I wish I could help.” Leo didn’t know what to say to that. Even to her, it was obvious that Iris had a crush on Noct. But Noct was clearly indifferent and promised to someone else. Iris continued. “You and Prompto have known him since high school, right?”

“Yup. First year.” She remembered her and her mother moving to Crown City that year. Everyone else already had established friend groups and Leo’s abrasive personality didn’t help her make friends. It was Prompto whom she decided to approach first one day, sitting by himself in the corner of the cafeteria. He was a wallflower, and she was unsociable. They became fast friends. When some boys tried to bully them in the first month Leo moved there, she got in a lot of trouble for beating the shit out of them.

But it made Prompto all the fonder of her. It was later that year that they met Noct. It was Prompto that approached him, confessing to Leo that he had been trying to befriend Noct for some time. So she stuck around the annoying prince for his sake. They clashed at first, but they soon grew to tolerate than like each other. By second year, their group was solid.

She told Iris all of this, who listened with rapt attention and fascination. Leo blushed once she finished relaying the story, hoping Prompto and Noct wouldn’t mind. She had just gotten carried away. “Wow.” Iris said. “And then you met Ignis and Gladdy after?”

“Me and Prompto always saw them around Noct in high school. But we only started hanging out after we graduated and joined the Crownsguard.” The older boys were reluctant at first but tolerated them because they were Noct’s friends. But it was impossible not to like Prompto who exuded sweetness. Then eventually, they started liking her too.

“Isn’t it hard to travel with a bunch of boys?” Iris asked.

“Not really.” Leo shrugged. “I doubt they remember I’m a girl.” She certainly didn’t go out of her way to act like one. Her hair was short, and she dressed in mostly hoodies and other baggy clothes. Sometimes she wore shorts, but her figure was so boyish, that no one felt the difference.

“But you are still a girl.” Iris pointed out. “It’s rude of them not to treat you like one.”

What would that even look like? Leo shuddered at the thought. “Nah, I like it like this.”

“Okay. As long as you’re happy. You know, it’s odd. I’m kinda jealous. I wish I could travel with you guys and be part of the group.” She smiled at Leo’s concerned look. “Don’t worry. I’m also happy to support you guys from the sidelines.” Iris really was sweet. Leo could see why Gladio was so protective. “So… do you like any of the boys?”

And she took it back. “Gross.” Leo chucked a pillow at her.

“I’m just teasing.” Iris laughed, throwing the pillow back. Leo had to chuck the pillow back at her. That escalated into an actual pillow fight. By the time they were spent, there were feathers strewn all over the room.

“Thanks Iris.” Leo said, lying down on her back.

“What for?”

“I dunno. Hanging out with you was nice. So thanks.”

She giggled. “You’re welcome, silly. If you ever need girl time, I’m here.”

Maybe she’d take her up on that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When editing this just now, I shrugged so hard that my shoulders fell off. The reception to this seems pretty cool, which is cool, I guess. Better silence than flames. Iris is kind of a tough character for me to write because honestly the game struggled a lot with it's female characters as they are significantly underdeveloped especially in comparison to the male ones. I'm not saying I'm doing better in this little snippet or anything, though lol.


	4. Blast From the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, not to be a bummer but I'm not super happy with this chapter. It's a little serious, but one of the first things I wrote for this character, so I wanted to include it.

They were on route to Lestallum to meet with some of Cor’s friends. According to Noct, Cor had run into some surviving members of the Crownsguard as well, which would be a welcome source of information as to what had happened in Insomnia. Luckily, they had already been camped near the city when the call came so they could catch them before they left.

It was such a beautiful day that Prompto insisted on switching seats with Noct, so he could take sweeping shots of the landscape as they drove by. Leo held down his feet when he got so distracted that he was halfway out of back of the car. If it were anyone else, she’d be mad, but his excitement was too contagions. Besides, Ignis already had the role of mother in their group and gave Prompto an earful.

When they got into the city, Noctis looked to Ignis. “Hey, why don’t we stay at a hotel tonight?”

They all looked to Ignis with anticipation and whooped when he nodded. “Yeah, soft beds!” Prompto cheered.

They then met up with the two Crownsguard soldiers in the market where Noct was told they were. They weren’t of the highest rank, but any allies were welcome. The taller of the two, Claude, had to leave that night for business, but the other one, with fiery red hair, Ferrus, was in town for a few days. The boys continued to chat while Leo grew more and more tense without anyone’s notice. Claude eventually took their leave, leaving them with Ferrus who captivated them with tales of their escape from the city.

It was only after a few minutes that Gladio noticed how quiet the normally vocal Leo was. He saw that she was looking anywhere but at Ferrus, and that Ferrus kept shooting her curious glances as well. “You two know each other?”

Leo turned a deep red, a remarkable feat for having such dark skin, while Ferrus smiled. The conversation stilled as everyone’s attention fell to the two of them. “Uh—I—um…”  
“Leo and I dated a few years ago.” Ferrus explained, looking to her with a fond smile.

Leo’s gaze was stuck on the ground as she visibly tied to not look at anyone. After a stunned silence, Noct laughed “Damn, you of all people had a boyfriend?”

“Shocking, I know.” Leo snapped. “I’m going to go check in at the hotel now.” With those words, she all but fled.

“C’mon man, did you have to make fun of her?” Prompt nudged Noct.

“I didn’t know she’d freak out.” Noct argued but looked at the path she’d left.

“It’s alright, Prince Noctis.” Ferrus said with a rueful smile. “I didn’t mean to make her feel awkward.”

“How long were the two of you together?” Ignis asked.

Ferrus rubbed the back of his neck and looked away as if he was reminiscing. “Almost a year.”

The boys were silent at that. Noct and Prompto exchanged shocked glances. How was it that they of all people hadn’t known that Leo had dated someone for that long? This would have been about the time she and Prompto joined the Crownsguard after high school. They refrained from questioning Ferrus on that topic further, and parted ways with him. “If you’re still in town, we’ll treat you to dinner.” Gladio offered, clapping him on the shoulder.

“Least we can do for your service.” Noct added.

“That sounds like a plan.” With a final bow to Noct, he was on his way.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Prompto pulled on Noct’s sleeve. “How did we not know about this?”

“I dunno, I didn’t go around asking about her love life.” Noct snapped back.

“Best not to tease her.” Ignis warned the rest of them as they neared the hotel.

When Noct entered the room they normally stayed in, Leo jumped in surprise from her hunched position on the couch. She was fiddling with some tools in her lap but tossed them aside when she saw them. For their credit, Noct, Prompto, and Gladio followed Ignis’s instructions… at first.

After they lounged about for a bit, Leo spoke up. “Hey, I think we should do that hunt tonight outside the city. It’s the perfect night for it.”

Noct groaned. “No way.”

“Besides, we have a few weeks to complete that hunt.” Ignis pointed out.

Leo was worrying her scarred lower lip. She nodded in defeat and plopped back down on the couch. “Also,” Gladio added with a grin, “We’re getting dinner with your boyfriend tonight.”

Gladio thought that she’d turn red and yell at him a little. What took him aback was how Leo paled. “I—um—I can do the hunt on my own. I feel like killing something.”

“Leo,” Ignis turned from whatever he was writing in his journal and peered at her over his glasses. “If you don’t wish to come to dinner, that’s perfectly alright.”

She gave a forced laugh, running a hand through her short boyish black hair. “You got me. Have fun.”

They watched her all but flee the room. Gladio gave a low whistle. “That must have been an awkward break up.”

Prompto couldn’t take his mind off of how distressed she looked. “I’m going to go check on her.” He announced, jogging out of the room. He didn’t have to look far and found her on the roof of the hotel, leaning over the railing. He tapped her shoulder and she recoiled. “Leave me alone.”

Prompto froze upon hearing the tears in her voice. “Hey, look at me.”

After a moment of hesitation, Leo reluctantly complied, revealing her teary blue eyes. Upon being caught, she sobbed and buried her face in her hands. “What’s wrong?” Prompto asked, immediately drawing her into a hug.

“Nothing,” she said with a sniffle against his shoulder. “It’s just me being stupid.”

“It doesn’t seem like nothing.” He pointed out. After a moment, she drew out of the hug and wiped her eyes furiously, before resuming her gazing out at the city. Prompto watched her before it clicked. This was all related to that dude, wasn’t it? He felt a bout of sympathy for her. Clearly, she was still in love with him. Prompto had never been in love before, but imagined it sucked to not have it reciprocated. “You don’t mind me keeping you company, do you dude?”

Leo looked to him. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” When he grinned at the subtle acceptance, she pouted. “Promise me you won’t tell the others about this?” she indicated to her red eyes.

“Pinky promise.” He stuck out his pinky for good effect. Leo laughed at that and wrapped her pinky around his.

They stood on that roof for a while, talking about mindless things. It relieved Prompto to see her go somewhat back to normal the more they talked. He had never seen Leo this distraught in all the years he’d known her. And he’d known her the longest out of all the boys. When he had the spare moment, he shot a quick text to Gladio, claiming to check his messages when Leo asked.

Once the temperature dropped further, Prompto nudged her. “Wanna head back inside?”

Leo was shivering in her t-shirt but seemed reluctant to leave her haven. “I don’t look like I’ve been crying, do I?”

Prompto gave her a look over. “Nope, you look fresh as a daisy!”

She snorted at that but followed after him when he moved to leave the roof.

When they got back to the room, Leo was visibly surprised to see trays of room service and the boys dressed in their nightwear. “Um… what happened to dinner?”

Gladio shrugged and handed her a burger on a paper plate, which she took with some confusion. “Change of plans.”

“I’m beat.” Noct yawned unconvincingly. “I don’t feel like going out now.”

“We must comply to His Highness’s wishes, after all.” Ignis added.

“We’ll treat the kid some other time.” Gladio assured her before she can worry aloud. He clapped a large hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.”

A multitude of emotions crossed Leo’s face, and Prompto worried she might cry again. But she nodded and plopped down on the bottom bunk of the bed beside Noct. “If you’re sure… thanks.” She looked to Prompto with that and he knew that she knew he’d arranged this stay in. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly but was glad to see that she looked to be in a better mood.

Prompto was fooled. And the rest of the boys were too for the night as they went to their respective bunks, Noct drawing the stick for the couch. It was the next morning when they set out that Ignis began notice that Leo was not acting like normal.

From his driver’s seat, he spared a glance to her every couple of minutes. Gladio was absorbed with his current book, while Noct was snoring away. Leo was gazing out the side with a faraway look in her eyes. Her hand kept wandering to trace the scar on her lip.

He frowned as he continued inspecting her over the next hour as they drove out of Lestallum. While feeling awkward over encountering a past relationship was normal, this was a bit much. He had never seen Leo retreat into herself like this… as if she was afraid of something.

Ignis thought back to two years ago, when she had been in a relationship with this Ferrus. Leo, Noct, and Prompto had just graduated high school. Their group was just starting to form, and he didn’t know her particularly well back then. There was that one time when…

Everyone jolted, startled, as the car swerved and Ignis made a sharp U-turn. “Wha-what the hell?” Noct sputtered, being rudely awoken.

“Surprised you woke up.” Gladio joked, before looking to Ignis in concern. “But seriously, what’s going on?”

Ignis didn’t answer for a few minutes before a terrifying smile crossed his face. “Oh nothing serious. I just realised I forgot my notebook in Lestallum.”

That was unlike Ignis. But still, no one protested. Ignis’s notebook was too valuable in the recipes they knew it was full of. Still, Gladio noticed how tightly Ignis was gripping the wheel and the stiffness to his shoulders.

By the time they made it back to the scenic parking lot in Lestallum, the sun was about to set. By this time, Prompto was fast asleep in the front seat. Ignis parked properly then immediately got out of the car. “Someone’s in a rush.” Leo noted.

“It won’t take long.” Ignis straightened his coat.

“I could use the walk.” Noct joined him.

“Me too.” Gladio said, stretching out his long arms as he got out of the car.

Ignis looked to them but nodded. “Very well. Leo, you’d best stay with Prompto then lest he get confused.” He said before Leo could think of offering to go with them. With that they were promptly off, leaving Leo watching them with a frown.

Gladio and Noct followed after Ignis towards the direction of the hotel they’d stayed in last night. But as soon as they were out of the car’s sight, he made a sharp turn towards an opposite street. “Are you thirsty?” Noct asked, bewildered as they moved to a bar. “I thought you wanted to find your book?”

Wordlessly, Ignis pulled out his notebook from his coat pocket, before putting it back, resuming his path. Gladio and Noct were extremely confused as they followed after Ignis. Before they could question him further, they had entered the establishment. After looking about, Ignis found what, or who he was looking for. To their surprise, he pulled up a chair across Ferrus, who was nursing a mug of something at a booth by himself.

Gladio followed Ignus’s example and slid in beside Ferrus. Noct opted to stand, confusion still displayed on his face. “Not that I mind,” Ferrus said softly. “But I thought you lot were headed out today.”

“We decided to take you up on the offer for dinner after all.” Ignis said curtly.

“Uh, Iggy—”

Ignis held up a finger to silence Gladio’s thought, which would have pissed him off if Ignis didn’t look so grave. “I will cut to the chase,” Ignis said, all pretences of formality gone. “Why is Leona afraid of you?”

There was a stunned silence at the table as that question rang through the air.

Ferrus blinked and leaned forward. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Yeah Ignis,” Noct butted in. “That’s a hell of a jump to make.”

Ignis turned to look at the prince, making him flinch at the intensity of his stare. “Prince Noctis. You and Prompto have known Leo the longest, and yet you do not see it?” Before he can protest, Ignis asked a question that stopped him in his tracks. “Two years ago, do you remember when she broke her leg?”

He thought for a moment, then nodded, still not knowing what he was implying. Gladio however stiffened in his seat. The easy smile fell from Ferrus’s lips as Ignis continued. “That was around the same time you broke up, was it not?”

“I see she’s spreading lies about me.” Ferrus said, face losing any kindness it once held. “I assure you it’s not true. That incident was entirely an accident on her part.”

A chill ran down Noct’s spine as he finally understood what they were talking about. That time she broke her leg and laughed it off seemed so long ago. He dug through his memory and remembered him and Prompto visiting her in the hospital with a giant moogle plushie. He couldn’t remember what she’d said, but suddenly he recalled how she stuttered over what put her there in the first place. He’d just assumed she had tripped somewhere and was embarrassed. He had no idea… Before he could react, Ignis asked “And the scar on her lip? Was that an accident as well?”

Ferrus scowled, answering Ignis’s question. Gladio growled and grabbed him by the collar. “You bastard!” Ferrus struggled to escape Gladio’s grip but was overwhelmed by the bigger man.

“Oh, of course you’d believe that bitch.” Spite twisted his features. “Even if I did hit her, I promise, she deserved it.”

Gladio was red now as he slammed his head down on the table. Other patrons of the bar cried out, but none moved to interfere as Noct in his anger drew forth his engine blade. Only Ignis sat still, his eyes the only thing betraying his fury. “Now, that is no way to talk about a lady.”

Ferrus lifted his head as much as he could and grinned bloodily. “A lady? What a joke. Tell me, what’s it like to share her between the four of y—ah!” his crude comment was interrupted by Gladio slamming his head down again.

Noct indicated to Gladio to lift him up. He looked dazed now as the prince stuck his blade under his chin. Before he could do anything, a new cry broke through the room. “Stop it!”

They all turned to see Leo rushing towards them with a bewildered Prompto trailing behind. “Leo.” Ferrus groaned.

“Go fuck yourself.” She said frankly, before grabbing Noct’s arm and staring Ignis and Gladio down. “We’re leaving, come on.”

It took a few moments of insistence before Gladio dropped Ferrus ungracefully. To Leo’s relief, the three of them followed after her as she left the bar. She saw Ignis leave some gil on the counter of the bar, the bewildered bartender taking it. Once they were outside, Prompto asked “What the heck is going on?”

Leo flushed, not wanting to relay what was going on. She saw Noct take Prompto by the arm and pull him to the back of the walking order. All she could make of their occasional mutterings were the occasional swear words. When the talking stopped, she looked back to see Prompto with tears swimming in his violet eyes.

But still, no one dared to talk to her. Her hands shook the entire way to the car, though from what emotion, was anyone’s guess. Ignis chose to drive them to the nearest camp to the city, a few miles away. It was only when they were all seated around the campfire that Noctis finally spoke up. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Tell you about what?” Leo snapped. “It wasn’t important.”

“Bullshit.” Gladio scowled.

Leo couldn’t take all of their angry faces and was severely tempted to run away, but Prompto stopped her by holding on to her hand. “I’m sorry for not noticing.”

She looked away from them. “I didn’t want any of you to notice.”

Before anyone could respond, Noct snapped at her. “You could have reported him! Cor would have taken care of the bastard.”

Leo shook her head. “I--I doubt anyone would have believed me.” Before Noct could shout again, she stopped him. “It was a very convincing break. I’m a clutz. It makes sense for me to fall down some stairs instead of… well…” she trailed off, unable to complete the thought, ashamed.

“Could you relay the entire story now, if you’re comfortable?” Ignis asked, appearing to be the calmest out of them all.

If she was comfortable… what a joke. She didn’t really have a choice here if she wanted them to stop looking at her like that. Moments like these made her wish she wasn’t a girl.

“He was real nice at first.” Leo began reluctantly. It was the first and only time a boy had paid attention to her. He seemed like he liked her for who she was. “After a while though, he started getting pissy over every little thing. I think he hated me being in the crownsguard, or something. I don’t know.” Prompto squeezed her hand, encouraging her to go on. “I thought he’d go back to normal, but he only got worse.” That was about the time he’d begun hitting her.

At first it was only gripping her wrist too tight, but it escalated to throwing a cup at her face, scarring her lip. Each time he went too far, he apologized immediately, showing convincing remorse. “I was dumb, and I stayed with him for longer than I should have.” Her cheeks heated with shame. “But when I had enough and decided to break up with him, he was pissed.

“I was leaving the room, when he pushed me down the stairs.” There, she said it. “He was nice enough to call an ambulance, at least.” She shrugged. “He tried to apologise, but I avoided him after that and it worked.” There was more to it than that. Her mom had found out about that situation and scared the bastard enough that he stopped coming by. “He left me alone from then on.”

They were all silent as Leo finished her story. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking at their faces anxiously. “Can we just pretend like this never happened?”

“Hard to do that.” Gladio said. “I still want to go kick the shit out of that bastard.”

“It’s not his fault I was an idiot.” Leo muttered.

“Is that what this is about?” Ignis asked, incredulously. “You’re blaming yourself for this?”

At his look, she snapped. “Well, duh! I act like I’m hot shit, but I couldn’t even defend myself back then. I was weak. So, yeah, I’m kind of to blame.”

That was the worst part of all this, the real reason she froze up when Ferrus walked into her life again. It wasn’t him she was afraid of. It was of what the boys would think if they found out what had happened. The last thing she wanted to be was weak, and that goddamned bastard had made her that.

“You’re an idiot.” Noct said bluntly. She winced and Prompto made a noise of protest. “What? She is. It wasn’t your fault you got stuck in an abusive relationship, dumbass.”

Leo could only stare at Noct dumbfounded. While he was harsh about it, his sentiment was surprisingly kind.

“And if you’re weak, then what am I?” Prompto asked jokingly, prompting a tiny smile from her.

“Fine, I get it.” She said, waving the two of them off. “Sorry for not telling you before. I thought it’d be humiliating, and oh look, I was right.”

“There is nothing to be humiliated about.” Gladio said firmly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Leo let that sink in and nodded. “Alright.” At least things couldn’t get worse. She couldn’t stop them from knowing, but they hadn’t reacted as horribly as she’d imagined. “Thanks for…” standing up for me, “Thanks I guess.” She finished lamely.

Ignis nodded, and Noct rubbed the back of his head. “Just say the word and we’ll hunt him down.” Gladio offered once again.

“Nah, it’s fine.” Leo bit her lip. “I’ll keep it in mind though. Mind if I turn in early?”

No one begrudged her of that. Leo rolled up in her sleeping bag, surprisingly less tense than she’d been in the past few days. Yeah, things could have definitely been worse.  
No matter what, it was nice to know that her friends cared about her and didn’t blame her for her past as she feared they would.

Perhaps she’d be able to forget about Ferrus completely now…


	5. Loose Tongue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does one mean what they say when they're drunk?

Leo had no fucking idea what they were celebrating anymore.

In fact, why did people need to be celebrating something in order to get drunk? Why couldn’t they just get drunk? That was what the three youngest members of their group were up to at the moment. 

After a few drinks and half an hour, Prompto had fallen asleep at the counter of the bar, snoring gently and drooling all over the place. After making sure he was alright, Noct and Leo continued their contest to down as many shots as they possibly could. 

“Good sir, I would like a porn star please!” Leo demanded. 

Noct dissolved into a series of giggles at the name of the shot. “Pft… M-me too! Porn stars for both of us!” 

The bartender shot the snickering pair a withering look before presenting the electric blue shots. They clinked their glasses before downing them. “Oh, that was nice!” Leo remarked. 

“That was bullshit.” Noct pouted. “It was all juice!” 

“N-oo,” Leo swatted him on the shoulder. “It’s on the booze menu, ain’t it?” 

“Give us something proper.” Noct ordered after squinting at the menu. “That one!” he pointed randomly. The shot that followed was a punishment compared to the previous sweet one. Noct had gotten his wish. 

They took a little bit of a break from the drinking by way of argument. “You’re allowed your opinion, even though it’s wrong.” Leo said. 

“Shuddup, you know I’m right. I’m always right!” 

“I mean, they're very pretty, but they ain't the prettiest.” 

“Final word on the matter.” Noct said, his swaying on the barstool undercutting his serious tone. He pointed to the snoring golden head beside him. “Prom has the prettiest eyes. They’re sooo purple. And when he’s in the sun and his lashes are all golden, just forget it. There’s no competition.” Drunk as they were, there was no chance of either of them remembering this conversation in the morning. 

Leo was about to propose her contender for prettiest eyes when Noct gagged. The bartender groaned. “Please, for the love of the six, go outside.” Noct had the decency of stumbling through the doors before retching.

Because of that, the bartender refused to let Leo drink any more. What an asshole. Leo decided to find other ways to entertain herself. “Hey.” She looked up from the arcade machine she was playing at to see two tall fuzzy figures. One of them had a groaning prince slung over his shoulder. “Where’s Prompto?” 

“Who the fuck are you?” Leo squinted at him. 

“An asshole, that’s who.” Noct cried out. 

Gladio couldn’t help but grin. “Real funny, kids.” He spied Prompto at the bar and moved out of Leo’s sight. Good. She could focus on her game. She ignored Ignis, who stood to watch. Gladio came back, this time with a drowsy Prompto in tow in his other arm. “Uh, my hands are a little full Iggy.” 

“Worry not.” Ignis said. “Leo is fit to walk with us. Aren’t you, Leo?” 

“Wha—no way? I’m totally gonna beat Noct’s score this time.” 

Ignis chuckled. “You haven’t even inserted a token.” 

Leo looked to the game, but it was all spinning. “I have too. Look, I’m winning.” Those were definitely numbers that were flashing across the screen. Why else would they be there unless they were her score. 

“Gladio, I’m gonna be sick again.” Noct groaned. 

“Oh, no you’re not.” Gladio said. “I’m gonna bring these two back to the hotel. You bring Leo.” 

“Affirmative.” Ignis confirmed, watching Gladio lug Noct and Prompto (who had fallen asleep again) out of the establishment. He sighed as he turned his attention back to Leo. Leave it to the three of them to get utterly trashed as soon as they were left alone. At least they were all together and hadn’t wandered out of the city. It was lucky that they had run into Noct being violently sick just outside the establishment. “It’s getting rather late. We should get going now too.” 

Leo pouted at him. “No. Not until I win.” 

Ignis waited for a few minutes as she played with the bumpers of the game in futility. In her mind, it seemed, she was on the verge of a record, judging from her furrowed brow. “Ah, it seems you’ve beaten Noct’s score. Congratulations.” 

She gasped and then cheered loudly. “I deserve another shot for this!” She moved to go to the bar but tripped over her own feet. Ignis caught her before she hit the ground.  
“I think not.” He made sure she was secure with an arm around her waist, before he led her out of the bar. There were very few people left in the bar at this late hour and fewer out on the streets. Ignis grimaced at the mess just outside the door, taking care to give it a wide berth. What an unfortunate surprise for whoever was set to clean in the morning. 

“Ugh, Ignis, s’not fair!” Leo complained the entire time. “I wanna stay!” When he didn’t relent, Leo huffed. “Meanie.” 

“Did you just call me a ‘meanie’?” Ignis couldn’t help but grin at that. “I’m wounded.” 

“Oh, I didn’t mean it.” Leo shook her head. “Don’t be sad. I’m sorry, really.” Before he could reassure her that he didn’t take any offence, she put a hand to her mouth. “Also, I think I’m going to puke.” 

Ignis immediately helped her to a nearby alley. He figured he should hold her hair back but could only smooth the errant curls away from her forehead. She took a few ragged breaths, but nothing seemed to come out. “I think I’m good.” She groaned after a few minutes. “Maybe you’re right. I think I want to sleep.”

“Duly noted.” Ignis chuckled. “Come now.” 

However, Leo couldn’t seem to bring herself to stand properly or even lean on him. She seemed to catch Prompto’s sleepiness. Ignis supposed he could have slung her over his shoulder like Gladio had Noct, but he hardly felt that would be proper. “It will be faster if I carry you. May I?” 

Leo didn’t really seem to absorb the question in her dazed state, but she nodded all the same. “Sure.” With that, Ignis lifted her into his arms, one arm under her knees and the other at her back. “Sorry, I’m not too heavy, am I? You can probably leave me in the alley and pick me up tomorrow.” 

Even while drunk out of her mind, she worried about such a thing. “I will do no such thing. And no, you aren’t heavy at all, Leo.” He wouldn’t tell her if she was. She was much lighter than the times he’d had to lug Noct around when he’d gotten injured. It probably had to do with her tiny frame. 

“Hey Ignis.” He looked down to her expectantly, but she only gave a goofy smile. “Can I try on your glasses?” 

“Ask me again when you’re sober and I shall consider it.” She nodded at that, seeming to lose interest and nuzzle her head against his shirt. 

About half way to the hotel, she stirred again. He could feel her contemplative stare at him. “What is it, Leo? Do you want to be let down?” 

“I’m nice and comfy here.” She slurred. “You should carry me more often, Iggy.” 

She said that perfectly innocently, but Ignis’s eyes still widened at the implications of the words. “I see,” was all he said lamely. 

When he looked down at her again, she was frowning. When she noticed him looking, she shook her head. “Noct and I had a fight. Wanna settle it for us?” 

“I don’t see why not.” He said, curious. 

“Okay! So Noct told me that Prompto had the prettiest eyes in our group. Can you believe him?” 

Ignis couldn’t help but laugh at that. He had thought it was something serious. He felt bad after seeing the upset look on Leo’s face at his reaction. “You need not worry, Leo. Your eyes are very pretty.” She blinked at him in confusion. He wasn’t lying. Her eyes were big and bright blue, made even more shocking with the contrast of her dark brown skin. They were indeed beautiful in the moonlight, gazing up at him. 

“I wasn’t talking about me.” She said, as if it were obvious. She squinted at him and nodded resolutely. “Yeah, clearly your eyes are the prettiest Iggy.” 

Ignis.exe stopped working. “I beg your pardon?” 

She beamed at him. “Well duh. Your eyes are so green and sharp and well… pretty! They look really good on your face!” 

He felt his face grown hot at her words and her radiant smile. “I—well—I mean— thank you.” He was lost on what to say. “Leo?” he looked down at her silence to see her slumbering away. He smiled upon receiving a snore as a response. 

Ah, he had reached the hotel without realising it. He climbed the stairs to the room they were sharing and nodded to a weary looking Gladio sitting on the couch. It seemed he had volunteered to take it for the night. “I assume they were trouble.” He looked to Noctis who was sprawled out on the lower bunk of the bed on the right and Prompto who was on the upper one. Both of them were snoring incessantly. 

Gladio snorted. “You have no idea. How’s Leo?” 

“…Manageable.” With that, he lowered her on the empty bed. She groaned at the shift but curled into herself before resuming her slumber. Ignis made sure to slide her shoes off before covering her with the blanket. He grabbed a can of ebony before plopping down next to Gladio. 

“We oughta join them next time.” 

“Who would bring us back?” 

“True that. Are ya gonna be nice to them in the morning?” 

“Oh definitely not.” 

Ignis was true to his word. The next morning, Prompto was the first to rise. Even though he had drunk the least, his headache was aggravating. “Good, you’re up.” Ignis said from his position at the counter. “You can wake Noct and Leo up.” 

“Please…” Prompto groaned, burying his face in the covers. The blinds had been opened and sunlight was pouring in. “Have mercy.”

“You should have thought of that last night.” Ignis smiled sharply. “Wake them up. Breakfast is almost ready.” 

Prompto felt like puking at the mere thought of eating, but Ignis looked scary so he scrambled off the top bunk, nearly falling on his butt. He went to Noct first, who was a starfish on his bed. “Noct. Wake up dude!” But Noct did not respond in the slightest. He was unbothered by the glaring sunlight and Prompto’s nudging. He gave up and moved to Leo’s bed. Luckily, she responded to Prompto’s calls, though she swore in response. “Leave me alone.” 

“Sorry dude.” Prompto said before ripping off her covers. “Ignis’s orders.” 

Leo whined a bit before reluctantly crawling out of bed. “What happened last night?” 

“That’s a good question.” Prompto said blearily. If Leo felt bad, Prompto looked terrible with dark circles under his eyes and a greenish cast to his face. “Maybe Noct knows.”  
“Let’s find out.” Leo said, curious herself. “Ay, Noct!” she nudged him. Nothing, he only rolled over with a mumble. That wasn’t going to cut it. If she was forced to be awake, so would he. She didn’t do this often as Noct hated it, but she went to the sink and got a cup of water. She handed it to Prompto. “He’ll be nicer to you.” 

Prompto swallowed. But one look from Ignis had him tip the water onto Noct’s head. Noct shrieked as he awoke. “What the hell?!”

“Gah, sorry dude.” Prompto said. “Ignis wants us up.” 

“No way Specs!” Noct yelled. “I’m sleeping in.” Before he could sink into his bed once more, the pallor of his face changed. “Oh no.” 

Leo and Prompto retreated backwards as they saw the face Noct made. Luckily, Ignis saved them by presenting a bucket before Noct emptied the contents of his stomach once more. “Better out than in.” 

“I’m never drinking again.” Prompto promised. 

“Me neither. Whose brilliant idea was it anyway?” Leo asked. 

The three of them stared at each other in confusion, their memories of the night so rattled that they couldn’t even remember that. When Noct scrambled past them into the bathroom, Ignis gestured to the tiny table by the kitchen. Prompto and Leo sat down slowly. Once Noctis stumbled out of the bathroom, he too joined them. 

They stared at Ignis apprehensively as he worked in the kitchen. “I’m not feeling hungry, Ignis.” Noct said. 

Ignis only chuckled. “I wasn’t asking.” Leo was expecting him to put down bacon, maybe even pancakes out of sympathy, but instead he presented three tall glasses filled with a nasty looking smoothie. 

“No.” Noct said, pushing it away. 

“You’ll drink if you want to feel better.” Ignis looked unfazed. “Otherwise, I fear the car ride will be rather uncomfortable.” 

“Is this a punishment, Ignis?” Leo groaned. “You’re so mean!” 

Leo missed the way Ignis’s lips quirked up at that word. “It’s not too bad.” 

Prompto was the first one brave enough to try a sip. His face lit up. “He’s right. It’s a little spicy, but not bad!” That was enough for Leo, who tentatively took a sip. It wasn’t the best thing in the world, but she liked the fruit and the ginger. Ugh, but the seeds. Those were nasty. Eventually, Noct shut up and drank it too, only making disgusted noises a few times. 

Once she had finished, she actually felt a lot better. Whatever Ignis had put in the drink was easy on her stomach at least. Noct and Prompto looked a bit brighter too. Noct even looked almost awake. It was then that she kind of remembered. They went for Noct, thinking that he needed a break after Titan and all the headaches he went through. Well, now he probably had a different sort of headache. 

Leo was about to ask if she could go back to sleep when Gladio entered the room with a grin. “Ready to train guys?” 

Noct slammed his head down on the table as Leo directed a horrified look at Gladio. He was serious, wasn’t he?

What did they do last night to piss them off so much?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in game, I'm finally ready to go to Altissia. I'm a completionist and needed to finish all the side quests and hunts I could. It's been like weeks of playing and I haven't touched the story in a while. It's kind of exciting and different for me to be writing while not knowing how the game is going to unfold. I might have shot myself in the foot in several ways but I can always go back and edit stuff. 
> 
> Also I feel better writing drunk people now since I actually know what it's like lol.
> 
> Blink and you'll miss the Promptis ;)


	6. The Other Team

“Can’t wait to see Hammerhead again!” Prompto was in a good mood as they drove towards the gas station. Cid had certain parts that Leo needed for one of Prompto’s guns and the car needed a touch up too. 

“Is it Hammerhead you can’t wait to see—”

“Or Cindy?” Noct finished Gladio’s inquiry. 

Prompto blushed and waved off their teasing. By the time they had pulled into the gas station, it was midday. Leo went away from the group immediately to see Sid, seated in front of the garage with a beer. “Drinking so early in the day, old man?” 

“None of your business.” He dismissed her. “Ya here for your parts?” 

She nodded eagerly and was directed to the garage, where a bag lay. She looked through and nodded in satisfaction. It was all there. “Thanks, Sid.” 

The others approached and greeted Sid. While they talked, Cindy joined them. “How are y’all doing?” she asked with a bright smile. 

“Good.” Noct answered. 

“Wow, Cindy.” Prompto was by her side instantly. “You’re done already? That’s amazing!” 

“All she needed was a quick oil change.” She said. “You’ve been taking good care of her. Are y’all gonna get lunch? I’ll join you!”

“Sounds good.” Gladio said. “To the Crows Nest.” 

Leo and Prompto exchanged delighted looks at the thought of greasy food. Ignis’s cooking was great and all, but sometimes one craved nice disgusting fried food. They sat down at the counter, where Cindy sat herself down between Noct and Leo. “Grandpa got those parts to you alright, sugar?” she leaned towards Leo. 

“Yup.” Leo grinned. She began to describe the modifications she was to make to the gun. Cindy listened with rapt attention. It was nice to have someone who understood mechanical terms. “Wow, that’s a great suggestion!” Leo said with surprise as Cindy proposed a different way of fixing up the barrel. She pulled out her notebook and wrote it down messily on the margins of a random page and folded the ear, so she could come back to it later. 

Taka presented the food to them then. Leo put her book away and began to devour the burger and fries. 

Leo didn’t think anything of it when Cindy started talking to her again. “Do you cut your hair yourself, Leo? 

“Oh? No, Prompto usually does it.” She turned to Prompto who was naturally sulking from Cindy not paying attention to him. 

This made Cindy look to Prompto and then back to Leo. “Well you do a good job, Prompto. That haircut looks real cute on you, Leo.” 

Prompto choked on his water and Ignis resisted a smirk. “Thanks!” Leo said, oblivious as ever. “You okay, Prompto?” she asked, patting him on the back.   
“Never better.” He said, recovering. 

They continued on like this. Leo noticed Gladio give her a few unsubtle grins throughout the meal, which confused her greatly. Cindy continued to talk to her about various things keeping Leo occupied until the bill came. “It’s my treat.” Cindy stopped Noct before he could pay. “Least I can do for my favourite customers.” 

Noct put away his wallet. “Kay. Thanks.” 

Cindy walked them back to the car. “Hey Leo? Ya got a minute, darl?” 

“Yeah sure.” Leo said. Prompto made a noise in the back of his throat and Gladio patted him on the shoulder. Noct and Leo seemed to be the only ones who didn’t get it.   
Leo gave Cindy her full attention as they stopped in front of the Crows Nest, out of earshot of the boys. “If you’re staying nearby, you should let me take you out to dinner.” Cindy said, brushing golden hair out of her eyes. 

Cindy towered over Leo with her taller height and heeled boots. She was the same height as Noct. “Yeah sure.” Leo nodded. “We could all go out.” Prompto would definitely love that.

Cindy laughed and shook her head. “No. Um, I’m thinking just the two of us, if that’s alright.” Why would Cindy just want it to be the two of them? Was it like with Iris, where she wanted to have a girls’ night and talk about boys? Cindy didn’t seem like that. She always gave Leo her undivided attention. Cindy must have seen the confusion on Leo’s face. “Oh dear. Leo, you know I’m asking you out on a date, don’t you?” 

Leo stared at her as she processed this information. “A- a date?” she sputtered as she understood. Her face reddened. “As in a romantic date?”

“Yeah, silly.” Cindy nodded shyly. “I’m mighty sorry for being so forward. I know you and the boys are all over the place, so I wanted to take my chance. I think you’re cute and brilliant and I’d like to get to know you a bit better.” 

Wait… Cindy liked girls? Leo scrambled to find words as she looked at Cindy’s easy smile. Leo had never considered such a possibility before. Leo had only ever dated one person, and it happened to be a boy. She wasn’t totally against the idea of girls, but none had shown interest before. As a matter of fact, she just wasn’t used to people in general finding her attractive. She could never imagine that someone as gorgeous as Cindy could consider her of all people. “I… um, thank you Cindy. I’m flattered, really.”

“But…?” 

It was too fast. Leo hardly knew Cindy. She was really pretty, but Leo didn’t feel what she should have when she looked at her. It’d be dishonest to lead her on. “Everything’s just so crazy right now.” Leo rubbed the back of her neck. 

“Ah, that’s alright. I figured I’d give it a shot.” At Leo’s worried look, Cindy smiled. “Don’t you worry about it. I appreciate your honesty, darl. We can still be friends, right?”  
“Oh-of course.” Leo nodded vigorously and shook Cindy’s hand like an idiot. “You know, Prompto wouldn’t be like totally opposed to hanging out.” she offered weakly. 

Cindy grinned. “I’m afraid he’s not my type.” Ouch. It seemed Cindy wasn’t bi, shooting Prompto’s chances down to the ground. “See you around?”

“Yeah, thanks, Cindy. I’ll see you around.” With that, she all but fled the scene, blushing harder and harder as she processed the conversation. 

When she made it to the car, the boys sans Noct were staring at her expectantly. “Well?” Gladio asked. “What’d she say?” 

Leo pressed her hands to her hot cheeks and turned to Prompto. “I—um— sorry Prompto. I don’t think Cindy likes boys.” 

“Nooo.” Prompto whined dramatically. “How will my heart recover?” 

“They’ll be other girls, buddy.” Gladio patted him on the shoulder. 

“Wait, really?” Noct asked, surprised. “How do you know?” 

Ignis groaned at the obliviousness of the prince. Leo blushed further. “Well, I mean, she kind of asked me out.” 

Noct gaped at her like a fish. “Did you say yes?”

She shook her head. “She was really cool about it, though.” 

“Well, as long as you’re both civil about it.” Ignis nodded.

“Should we go now?” she asked, eager to divert the conversation. 

Leo was sure Cindy would continue to be graceful about what had happened. She didn’t seem the type to get hung over such a thing. She probably had rows of suitors lined up. Still, Leo worried about the fight she’d have to wage with herself every time she came back to Hammerhead to contain her blush. But that was a hopeless case. Leo knew she blushed way too easily. It wasn’t fair. 

Truly, she wished Cindy would find a wonderful girl that could return her affections… and that Prompto would get over the shock.


	7. Detective Gladio Part 1: Sleeptalking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Denial isn't just a river or something.

They finally had a bit of a break from the troublesome past few days. After destroying one of the empire’s fortresses. Gladio was a bit late to hit the sack as he had some training he wanted to do. When he came back to camp in the dead of night, Ignis was the only one up. “I’ll be there shortly. I was just planning our schedule for the next week.”

“Good night then.” Gladio waved before heading into the tent. Noct, Prompto, and Leo were all asleep already. Probably tuckered out from the past few days. 

As he got ready for bed, he heard Leo muttering from her corner of the tent. Curious, Gladio walked over to her to check and see if she was alright. Well, she seemed to be sleeping peacefully enough with that slight smile on her face. It was only when he began to walk away that he heard Leo sigh a word that stopped him in his tracks. “Ignis…” 

He whirled back and stared at her sleeping form in shock. She didn’t… Holy shit. She totally did, didn’t she? No… he could have just misinterpreted her. Or it may have been said innocently. He let it go for the night, despite the ideas such a development set in motion in his head. Leo and Ignis?? He had never considered such a pairing. No. He couldn’t just let this go. 

The next morning Gladio watched Leo and Ignis like a hawk. If there was anything going on between them that they were hiding, he would have noticed. Right? Still, they acted totally normally. Leo was arguing with Noct about something trivial while Ignis was cooking away without a care. He broke his observation when Prompto waved a hand in front of his face. “You okay, big guy?” 

This drew everyone’s gaze, making Gladio shrug in self-defence. “Just zoning out. Don’t mind me.” 

Ignis looked at him curiously for a moment, but for the most part everyone forgot about it. Gladio kept his investigations subtle from then on out. For the next few days, he watched. Ignis and Leo were perfectly civil to each other, but nothing suggested interest. Sure, Ignis berated her on a reckless move in battle, and Leo passed him a can of Ebony, but that was all normal. 

When they were setting up in camp a few nights after the initial incident, Gladio couldn’t help but ask Leo about what he’d heard that night. He found her a few metres away from camp, working on a bomb. “Hey kid.” 

“Yeah?” Leo asked, not looking up from the work she was intently focussed on. 

“I heard you say Ignis’s name in your sleep a few nights ago.” He just said it. Just like that without any warning. Real smooth. 

Leo dropped her screwdriver and turned to look at him in shock. “What? Are you making this up?”

“Nope. I’m sure I heard it.” He smiled to alleviate the awkwardness in the air. “Wanna talk about it?”

“There’s nothing to talk about!” Leo snapped. “I didn’t say anything like that?” 

“Anything like… Ignis?” 

She turned a bright red. “I didn’t.” She rose up hurriedly. “I’ll prove it. Spar with me. If I win, you admit you were wrong!” 

Gladio laughed. Beating him in a fight wouldn’t change what she said, and he heard. “Okay. If I win, you tell me if you like Ignis.” 

With that he led them to a secluded clearing and beckoned her forward. Leo charged with a cry and began a flurry of punches that he deflected with ease. She was flustered. It was making her fight without clarity. Still, when he moved to attack, Leo swung out of his way with natural instinct. They kept at it for a good half hour until they were both drenched in sweat and Leo was struggling to breathe. “Wanna call it?” 

“No way!” Leo shouted, moving to attack him again.

Luckily, he spotted an opening and pinned her down. He let go of her after a few seconds and plopped down on the ground with a relieved sigh. He turned to her, where she sat down beside him, a scowl on her face. “I win.” 

“No need to rub it in.” Leo drew her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. “I have no idea why you heard me say Ignis’s name.” she said earnestly. “I don’t like him in that way!”

Fine. He could buy that. But why did she get so defensive if she didn’t like him. Maybe Leo was just embarrassed by him coming to that conclusion. “Could you have said it like unconsciously?” 

“I don’t see why?” Leo brushed her hair back with her hand, frustration clear in her blue eyes. “I mean, even if I did, which I don’t, how could it be a possibility?”

“What do you mean?” now they were on the verge of something. 

“Well, say I did like Ignis, which I don’t, why would he give me the time of day? We’re too different. He’d probably like someone more, I dunno, girly.” She laughed. “I mean, can you imagine it? I doubt he’d go for someone like me. So I don’t know what you heard, but I don’t like him.” 

Gladio could only stare at her, understanding dawning on him. So she didn’t want to admit it to herself, because she didn’t think Ignis could ever possibly be interested in her. He thought about it and felt like kicking himself. He hadn’t considered if Ignis was interested. If he was, he didn’t show it. Pushing her like this was a jerk move in that case. “Hey, I’m sorry for teasing you Leo. We don’t have to talk about it anymore if you don’t want to.”

She sighed and then fell back onto the ground. “Yeah, that’d be nice. Thanks Gladio.” 

“If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me.” He helped her up before heading back to camp. She went back to her workstation and resumed her bomb with new vigor. He wouldn’t push her further. Leo never responded well to prodding. But he’d keep an eye on this development. He could only hope that no one got hurt.


	8. The Start of Something?

Though Ignis knew Noct wasn’t nearly as bad of a driver as they liked to make him out to be, he couldn’t help but be slightly anxious when the prince was at the wheel. Especially when it was dark out. The Prince insisted on finishing inspecting the sources of power around Lestallum for Holly, but doing so had taken some time. Now, they were off to the nearest civilization, which happened to be miles away. 

Gladio was absorbed with his book while Leo and Prompto kept talking to Noct. Part of him wanted to dissuade them in order to allow him to focus, but he knew backseat driving could prove a greater distraction. Instead, Ignis let himself gaze out at the scenery which he rarely got to enjoy behind the wheel. 

The conversation stilled. One or more of them must have fallen asleep. Well, it was a long drive to their destination. Ignis found himself lost in his own thoughts until a pressure on his shoulder brought him back to reality. He looked to his shoulder to see Leo asleep with her head on his shoulder. 

Leo fell asleep in the car often. And from her position in the middle, she ended up leaning on Gladio or Noctis. They were so far into their journey, that they easily moved her back into an upright position. Ignis had full leave to do that, by all accounts. 

But he didn’t. He let Leo rest against his shoulder. It was the first time that she had ever fallen asleep on him, and he couldn’t bring himself to disturb her. Besides, she was no bother with how light she was. It was rather ungentlemanly of Gladio and Noctis to push her aside anyhow. So, he let her be. 

As Noct drove, Ignis found his gaze alternating between the landscape that they drove past and Leo’s sleeping face. It was impolite to stare, he knew, but something magnetic drew his eyes. He was inexplicably reminded of the time he had carried her back to the hotel when she was too drunk to walk. But this time, she wasn’t sickly looking, but rather relaxed. 

Ignis had never taken the time to look before. But from here, he could admire the dusting of dark freckles across her cheeks. Foolish of him to ever consider her plain. The more he looked, the more he found to admire. Hmm. He distanced himself from the thought and focused on the view outside the car once more, resolutely. 

But even in her sleep, Leo proved unpredictable. Ignis stiffened as she nuzzled her head against his shoulder and laid a hand against his chest, gripping his shirt lightly. She hummed under her breath, seeming to enjoy using him as a pillow. Ignis sighed, trying to will away the blush he felt rise to his cheeks. He found he didn’t entirely mind how close she was. He felt the desire to wrap an arm around her… to secure her against him of course. 

His thoughts were rather odd. No. He couldn’t go thinking like this. Fatigue was probably causing his mind to wander to such strange places. Still, that fluttering in his chest was rather troublesome.

Leo stirred when Noct pulled over at the gas station. Ignis watched her straighten up and blink in confusion, before a bright flush spread across her cheeks. She laughed shyly. “Sorry Ignis. Your shoulder must be so sore.” 

He adjusted his glasses. “It was no problem.” 

“Next time, you have full permission to push me off.” With that she left the car through Gladio’s side, who was already outside and stretching. Ignis smiled to himself once she was out of sight. 

Next time… He broke himself out of that thought and nudged the other person still in the car. “Time to wake up, Prompto. We have arrived.” 

Prompto awoke with a yawn, his hair flattened on one side. “You look like you’re in a good mood.” 

Ignis blinked in surprise. “Do I?” he smirked, despite himself. “…I suppose I am.” 

He’d have to sit in the back seat more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... I'm back now that final essays are in. Let's hope I don't flunk out.


	9. Detective Gladio Part 2: Notebooks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gladio goes through some notebooks and makes a startling discovery.

There was a world of a difference in the way Leo and Ignis kept their precious notebooks. 

Leo’s notebook was ratty, almost to the point of carelessness. The fine brown leather was faded by the elements from all the times she’d left it out for too long. Once, Leo left her book out in the camp and Gladio came across it. She’d never been secretive about it. It wasn’t like Iris’s diary, which she guarded with her life. 

When Gladio flipped through the sun browned pages, he found he could barely decipher her scrawl, written in large messy letters that looped too much to be legible to anyone other than her. What did surprise him were the occasional pressed flowers that Leo had taped to the pages, scent mingling with the leather and black powder that dusted many of the pages. 

He had to admit, they took for granted how much of a genius Leo was, a fact he was reminded of as he came across several illustrations and diagrams of her bombs and their weapons. Though he couldn’t read any of the writing, the complex calculations were clear enough. He could also tell when a project was a scrapped one as there would be a harsh ‘X’ over the diagram or the page would be entirely ripped out. There was no rhyme or reason to the way she structured her work, as she went back and forth from projects that seemed to have nothing to do with each other. 

Gladio had to be careful not to lose any pages as Leo had stuffed scraps of paper between a lot of the pages, filling the book to the point of strain that the band binding it could barely hold. He was satisfied after flipping through it quickly, losing interest with the technical nature of it. He bound it up and put in back on the chair.

So, when Gladio by chance had the opportunity to rifle through Ignis’s notebook, where he left it on the counter one day, he couldn’t resist. After all, it was probably just like Leo’s, filled with technical stuff like recipes. 

Immediately, the difference in their work was clear as Ignis wrote in a tiny, neat cursive. And his black book was conveniently divided into sections for different things. The first was surprisingly notes on outposts and locations for if they ran into trouble as well as phone numbers of every gas station they’d encountered. How responsible. 

The largest chunk of the book was occupied by recipes. Ignis noted down his inspiration for each recipe as well as making notes on adjustments for each of their individual preferences. Damn. He even knew which specific fish Gladio hated, despite him never telling him. He never realised how much trouble Ignis put into the specifics of each meal. Prompto was allergic to rye flour? Who knew. After he amused himself with reading of each of their dietary details, he continued through the journal. 

Soon, Gladio encountered something that he never expected of Ignis. No way.

Ignis… wrote poetry!

He should have stopped right there and left the book where he’d found it, but he couldn’t help but skim over a few lines. Ignis mostly wrote couplets or little snippets that were in the margins or at the end of his scheduling or reflections of the day. Gladio couldn’t help but wince as he read through. With her smile the riot starts. No wonder Ignis never shared. This shit was pretty corny. 

Soon, he began to see that Ignis was writing about someone in particular. One line arose his suspicions… A thousand stars resting on your visage…another confirmed it. Her eyes thought of rain. And I drowned in them. 

…Maybe Leo’s affection wasn’t totally one sided. 

When had this happened? Clearly, Ignis hadn’t acted on any feelings. If he had, Gladio would have known as Leo had a terrible poker face. He had been sitting in the back more often, but Gladio had just thought it was because he was growing to trust Noct to drive. Well, now the question was what Gladio was going to do with this information. Ignis would be pissed if he found out Gladio had gone through his book, so that was out. Maybe all he could do was keep an eye out for now. 

But a little gentle prodding here and there couldn’t hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm the worst at writing poetry, so Ignis is too. :)


End file.
